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A Papua New Guinean Native “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel”, guiding an injured Australian soldier home, Christmas Day, 1942. An Australian soldier, George “Dick” Whittington, is aided by Papuan orderly Raphael Oimbari, at the Battle of Buna-Gona. Whittington died in February 1943 from the effects of bush typhus, this little-known killer of many Allied and Japanese soldiers in the Pacific. During the war in Papua New Guinea, the local population who were sympathetic to the Australian troops would assist where they could....

An aircrewman with the 743rd Bomb Group standing in front of B-24H Liberator ‘TePee Time Gal’ wearing typical protective clothing, San Giovanni Airfield, Foggia, Italy, 1944-45. The airgunner in the picture is Major David G. Bellemere and behind him is the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber ‘Tepee Time Gal’. He’s wearing the typical flight clothing: M4 flak helmet with Polaroid B-8 goggles, flak jacket, F-2 electrical flying suit with B-3 jacket, A-14 oxygen mask, gloves, and ugg airmen boots....

“Metropolis,” released in 1927, is a groundbreaking German expressionist science-fiction silent film, directed by Fritz Lang and co-written with Thea von Harbou, based on her 1925 novel of the same name. The film, considered one of the first feature-length sci-fi films, stars Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and Brigitte Helm. The film’s production spanned 17 months, from 1925 to 1926, and cost over five million Reichsmarks, equivalent to approximately $21 million today....

Mugshot of Benito Mussolini, 1903. Mussolini was brought up with firm socialist ideals and, as a young man, became a leading figure in Italian socialist circles. In June 1902, in an attempt to avoid conscription, Mussolini moved to Switzerland where he worked as a bricklayer, dabbled in journalism, and joined a trade union. He became active in the Italian socialist movement in Switzerland, working for the paper L’Avvenire del Lavoratore , organizing meetings, giving speeches to workers and serving as secretary of the Italian workers’ union in Lausanne....

On March 5, 1982, the Soviet Venera-14 lander made history by successfully touching down on Venus, the second planet of the Solar System. Operating for an impressive 57 minutes, it managed to capture and transmit a remarkable color panorama of its surroundings before succumbing to the planet’s extreme conditions. Decades later, this image remains the most recent glimpse of Venus’ surface available to scientists. Panorama of the Venera, made by the lander of the mission Venera-9....

“Little by little, and you end up with a hooligan. Tolerance of drinking is dangerous. There is but a step from drinking to crime.” 1986. In May 1985, as one of the first measures under the new general secretary of the Communist party, Michael Gorbachev, the last big Soviet-style campaign was set in motion, a campaign to curb alcohol consumption. It was a forceful and ruthless campaign, which included a variety of measures from the promotion of fruit juice drinking to price rises on vodka, the closing of vodka distilleries and the up-rooting of century-old vines in Georgia, amounting in fact to semi prohibition....

While many people argue that home economics classes are outdated (and patriarchal), the whole point of them was to equip young people with the practical skills they needed to live life as independent adults. Historically, the purpose of these courses was to professionalize housework, to provide intellectual fulfillment for women, and to emphasize the value of “women’s work” in society and to prepare them for the traditional roles of sexes....

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, hair salons were more than just places to perfect the era’s iconic bouffants and big hairstyles—they were a central part of social life. Even as these elaborate hairdos faded in popularity, giving way to more relaxed and manageable styles, the salon remained a haven for women. It was where they could prepare for special occasions, catch up on the latest gossip, or simply escape the monotony of daily chores....

New York firefighters battle a blaze while coated with icicles. 1940. Winter brings a unique set of risks and challenges for firefighters ranging from mild inconvenience to extreme danger. When temperatures reach below zero degrees, the battle is against the elements and the flames. Everything moves slower in extreme cold. Apparatus slows down from poor road conditions, firefighters move slower on snowpack and ice and when advancing lines, and hitting fire hydrants is tougher....

This collection shows photographs from World War Two that are not necessarily odd, let’s just say not quite normal, and by the book. The conflict involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–1945. The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes, left unsettled by World War I. The 40,000,000–50,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in history....

A walk through vintage advertising reveals a world where women were constantly told they were not enough. One ad warns, “Don’t let them call you SKINNY,” while another claims cigarettes will keep them thin. If worrying about their weight was not enough, they were also made to fear that they smelled bad. Every part of a woman’s body was a potential source of embarrassment, from her breath to her armpits, her hair to her hands, and even her most private areas....

Public urinal at Marché aux Fleursdela Cité, 1875. Paris in the 19th century was as notorious for its noxious odors as it was for revolutionary riots. The streets overflowed with rubbish and horse dung, and anyone caught short in the open simply relieved themselves where they stood. To remedy this, city prefect Rambuteau ordered the construction of public urinals – phallic-looking structures with inbuilt plumbing that allowed Paris’s male population to urinate with relative dignity....

Back in the days when rock stars ruled the stage and pushed every boundary they could, there was one thing that never failed to grab attention: tight pants. Long before Instagram and stylists, musicians had their own way of standing out, and squeezing into pants a size too small was often part of the plan. It wasn’t just about looking good, it was about turning heads, making a statement, and leaving fans with something they wouldn’t forget....

Selena in black denim pants and a black leather vest with a pink shirt and pink boots, 1994. Selena was a singer-songwriter who came to be known as the “Queen of Tejano music,” a popular form of music originating in Texas and taking influences from polka, rock, conjunto, and mariachi. An enormously popular singer in Latino communities across North America, her music crossed cultural boundaries to touch the lives of young and old alike....

This collection of impressive photos captures the street scenes and everyday life of Los Angeles in the 1930s. Most of the pictures were taken by Ansel Adams which commissioned to document the city’s industry as the country was shoring up its air power. Many of his photographs focused on the lunchtime rituals of factory workers along with everyday street scenes he encountered as he ambled about the rapidly developing region....

Himmler lying on the floor of British 2nd Army HQ after his suicide. May 23, 1945. In 1945 disillusioned Himmler believed victory had slipped from Germany’s grasp and secretly attempted to start peace negotiations with Eisenhower in a bid to escape a war crimes trial. But Eisenhower refused to have anything to do with Himmler. A furious Hitler declared Himmler a traitor, stripped him of his powers, and expelled him from the Nazi Party....

The Falling Soldier, 1936. The Falling Soldier became famous for the way it seems to capture, with terrifying immediacy, the moment when a bullet fatally strikes a Spanish Loyalist militiaman; later, it became famous for allegations that the photograph was “faked”, or at least (though this was common practice at the time) staged. The soldier is collapsing backwards, having been fatally shot in the head. He is dressed in civilian-looking clothing but wearing a leather cartridge belt, and his rifle is slipping out of his right hand....

These photographs taken in early and mid-20th century Germany show anonymous people posing alongside actors dressed as polar bears. The pictures, part of a TeddyBär collection, were compiled between the end of the First World War and the late 1960s by Jean-Marie Donat. After he stumbled across a snapshot of someone dressed as a polar bear traipsing down a street in Berlin, he went on to spend 20 years hunting down photos of other bear impersonators, spanning four decades and originating from places across Germany....

In 1946, a group of Russian children from the Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization (a Soviet scouting group) presented a carved wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States to Averell Harriman, the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union. The gift was meant as a gesture of friendship to the USSR’s World War II ally and was hung in the ambassador’s official residence at Spaso House in Moscow....

President Bush is interrupted at 9:07 a.m. during a school visit in Sarasota, Florida., by Andrew Card, his chief of staff, and informed that a second plane has hit the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001, US President George W. Bush went to Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Florida to meet students and staff and to bring attention to his plans for education reform. It looked like another regular day....